A record fleet of 22 maxi yachts will line up for the 2026 Rolex Middle Sea Race in Malta on Saturday, October 17th, with Irish sailors among the crews competing for honours in one of the Mediterranean's leading offshore races.
The 108-boat fleet is scheduled to start at 1100 from Valletta's Grand Harbour, marking the opening event of the International Maxi Association's 2026–27 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge.
Irish interest centres on the 100ft Black Jack and Johnny Vincent's Volvo 70 Pace, with Irish sailors confirmed aboard both yachts, as previously reported by Afloat, for the 606-nautical-mile contest.
The course takes competitors anticlockwise around Sicily, through the Strait of Messina, around Stromboli, then west along Sicily's northern coast and south to Pantelleria and Lampedusa. The fleet then returns to Malta, finishing at the entrance to Marsamxett Harbour.
Black Jack Favourite for Line Honours
Remon Vos' Black Jack with Ireland's Shane Hughes onboard, is the clear favourite for monohull line honours as the only 100-footer entered. The yacht has claimed line honours in the Rolex Middle Sea Race six times, first as Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo II in 2005, then as Esimit Europa 2 for four victories, and again under her present ownership in 2025.
Record Chaser – Six-time line honours winner Black Jack is favourite to lead the 2026 Rolex Middle Sea Race fleet home, although electronic problems and potentially light winds could complicate the 100-footer's bid for another victory. Photo: Kurt Arrigo
However, skipper Tristan Le Brun says electronic failures following a lightning storm during the Palermo–Montecarlo Race have complicated preparations.
“We replaced most things but then on the delivery things kept continuing to break,” he said.
The team has replaced its communication systems, navigation electronics and other equipment, while a new North Sails inventory optimised for IRC suggests greater emphasis on corrected-time performance.
Le Brun believes Comanche's 2021 race record of 40 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds is unlikely to be threatened.
“For us, it'll be three years in a row that we find ourselves at the front of the fleet pushing through the light – as it looks like it's going to be that again. But it's still evolving,” he said.
The latest forecast suggests sufficient wind for the start, followed by stronger south-easterlies carrying the leading yachts towards Sicily. Lighter conditions are expected near the Strait of Messina on Sunday, while a significant wind shadow north of Sicily could complicate progress on Monday.
Pace and Balthasar Among IRC Contenders
Johnny Vincent's Pace, originally Groupama 4, won the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race and is among seven former Volvo Ocean Race yachts entered. The yacht has enjoyed considerable success under subsequent names, including Wizard and Tschüss, and recently won the overall RORC Round Britain Race.
Other former round-the-world racers include Dinzer Doo, Ocean Breeze, Il Mostro and the VO65s Sisi, Wind Whisper and Jajo.
Louis Balcaen's Maxi 72 Balthasar will be among the strongest opposition, returning to defend its 2025 overall IRC victory. The yacht has already demonstrated its form in Malta, winning Wednesday's Yachting Malta Coastal Race both on the water and under IRC, as covered by Afloat
Title Defence – Defending champion Balthasar returns to the Rolex Middle Sea Race with a new mast and Bouwe Bekking as tactician, aiming to repeat her 2025 overall IRC victory after winning this week's Yachting Malta Coastal Race. Photo: Kurt Arrigo
Balthasar returns with a largely familiar crew and a new mast, with experienced round-the-world sailor Bouwe Bekking again serving as tactician.
“Of course, it's always special when you won an event the year before. But this will be a different year, and, we know, with these long races, anything can happen,” Bekking said. He identified both Pace and Giovanni Lombardi Stronati's Wallyrocket 71 Django 7X as significant threats.
Django 7X won the 2025 Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship but will be making her first major offshore appearance.
Bekking believes Pace could prove particularly difficult to contain if the fleet encounters reaching conditions towards Pantelleria. “Hopefully we can put some miles on them and stay ahead,” he said.
Record Maxi Entry Adds Depth to Competition
Beyond the leading 70-footers, competition will include Marton Józsa's DSS foil-equipped Wild Joe and James Neville's Botin 65 Artemis Bleu.
Wild Joe finished third overall under IRC in the 2022 race, while Artemis Bleu will make her offshore debut after extensive modifications, including replacing her lifting keel with a fixed keel and adding 1,400kg of water ballast. Former Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker leads the Artemis Bleu crew.
“We don't know how we'll do, but we're looking forward to finding out,” Neville said.
New Challenger – James Neville's Botin 65 Artemis Bleu makes her offshore debut following extensive modifications, with former Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker leading the crew in a record 22-boat maxi fleet. Photo: IMA / Studio Borlenghi
Other contenders include the Marten 72 Aragon, with Carolijn Brouwer and Don Cowie among her crew, and Guido Paolo Gamucci's Mylius 60 Cippa Lippa X, a class winner at this summer's IMA Maxi European Championship in Sorrento.
The fleet also features Hägar V, which returned after losing her mast during the stormy opening night of the 2024 race, alongside the Oyster 885 Babiana, Vismara 80 Luce Guida, and Swan 80 Kallima.
At the lower end of the maxi rating range are the historic Swan 65 Translated 9, the CNB 60 Expression of London and the Swan 651 Lunz Am Meer. Translated 9, now 52 years old, originally competed as Clare Francis' ADC Accutrac in the 1977–78 Whitbread Round the World Race.
With conditions expected to vary considerably around the course, the overall IRC contest could remain open well beyond the fastest yachts' arrival.
A northerly wind forecast to develop in the southwestern sector from Wednesday may give slower boats a faster passage home, potentially influencing the corrected-time results.
The first starting signal is scheduled for 1100 on Saturday, October 17th.
